November 17-18, 2012
- Pre-College Solo Piano Competition
- Recitals
- Masterclasses
Norman Krieger, Guest Artist
Professor of Keyboard Studies, USC Thornton School of Music
The Colorado Piano Festival, hosted by the University of Northern Colorado, will be held from Nov. 17-18, 2012 at Union Colony Civic Center in Greeley, Colorado. With two days of concerts, masterclasses, workshops, and a pre-college solo piano competition, there will be exciting opportunities for music-lovers, pianists and students of all ages and levels.
2012 Colorado Piano Festival Application
Performances
World-renowned pianist Norman Krieger will present the Saturday night concert. UNC piano students will be featured in the Saturday afternoon recital. On Sunday the artist-faculty from the University of Northern Colorado will perform a varied program of solo and chamber works.
Pre-College Solo Piano Competition
On Sunday morning, selected competition contestants will compete for cash prizes, and the first-place winner will be invited to return to UNC the following year for a special winner’s performance.
Masterclasses & Student/Teacher Enrichment Sessions
Interested competition participants are invited to perform in a masterclass setting for members of the UNC piano faculty. UNC students will display their pedagogical research in a poster session while the UNC piano faculty will also present workshops.
2012 Guest Artist
Norman Krieger is a Professor of Keyboard Studies at the University of Southern California. He began his training in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Esther Lipton, and became a full scholarship student of Adele Marcus at the Juilliard School at the age of 15. He received both bachelor's and master's degrees at the Juilliard School. Subsequently, he studied with Alfred Brendel and Maria Curcio in London, and was awarded an artist's diploma from the New England Conservatory, where he worked with Russell Sherman.
He regularly appears with the major ensembles of the world, among them the New York, Los Angeles, Hamilton, and Hong Kong philharmonics, the 10 symphony orchestras of Chicago, Cincinnati, Honolulu, Pittsburgh, San Antonio and San Diego, the Boston Pops Orchestra, Prague's Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Turkey's Presidential Symphony Orchestra, and Taiwan's National Symphony Orchestra.
University of Northern Colorado Faculty
Vergie Amendola is the interim Dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts, and Professor of Piano at the University of Northern Colorado. In addition, Amendola is an active chamber musician who has performed in Thailand, Korea, Slovenia, Canada and throughout the United States. She has also adjudicated for the Music Teachers National Association and has taught numerous Master Classes across the United States, focusing on the unique role of the pianist in the collaborative process of making music.
Caleb Harris, Interim Keyboard Area Head and Coordinator of the Collaborative Piano Program, enjoys an active career as a pianist, conductor, and chamber musician. In the 2012-2013 Season, Harris will perform in the USA, Europe, and Asia including Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1, and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. Dr. Harris' students have experienced wide-ranging successes as soloists with the UNC Orchestra, winners in the Colorado State Music Teacher's Association competitions, and in numerous collaborative and chamber settings..
Stephen Pierce, Piano and Piano Pedagogy, teaches applied piano and piano pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado. Pierce has performed in the Czech Republic, the United States, Canada, and throughout South Africa while his performances have been broadcast on South African television and radio. Second prizewinner of the National Piano Competition in South Africa, Pierce has performed as a soloist with orchestras in South Africa and Cincinnati and published in the journals Clavier Companion and Music Research Forum.
Dana Landry, Director of Jazz Studies, teaches jazz piano and coaches the Northern Colorado Voices, UNC’s top vocal jazz group. Under his direction, UNC Jazz Lab Band I has received two IAJE invitations and two Down Beat Awards as “Best College Big Band” in the last three years. Landry has performed with recognized jazz artists in Europe, Canada, Australia, and throughout the U.S. His CD, Journey Home (Summit Records), featuring Gary Burton, received a Grammy nomination for its title track.
Lei Weng, piano, has performed at prestigious venues around the world and with orchestras from Cincinnati, Seattle, Indiana, Louisiana, Fort Worth, Fort Collins, Greeley, Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Kaohsiung, and China National Symphony and Chorus. His 2012 season engagements include a concert at Chicago's Myra Hess Series, and concerto performances with the Symphony Orchestras of Longmont, Arlington, Garland and Irving. Weng's students have won numerous national and international competitions, and have been admitted by the Julliard School, Eastman School, New England Conservatory, Peabody Institute, Cleveland Institute, and Manhattan School of Music.
Schedule
Location:
Hensel Phelps Hall
Union Colony Civic Center
701 10th Ave
Greeley, CO 80631
All events are in the Hensel Phelps Theatre unless indicated otherwise.
Saturday, November 17
Morning:
9:00am - 12:00pm Student/Teacher Enrichment Sessions
3:00pm - 5:00pm UNC Piano Student Recital
8:00pm Guest Artist Recital - Norman Krieger
Sunday, November 18
9:00am - 12:00pm Pre-College Solo Piano Competition
2:30pm - 4:30pm Norman Krieger, Masterclass with UNC Piano Students
5:00pm UNC Piano Faculty Recital
All events are free of charge
Pre-College Solo
Piano Competition
Competition Rules
Awards
- 1st place. Cash prize of $750; Solo performance at UNC on a piano recital series.
- 2nd place. Cash prize of $500.
- 3rd place. Cash prize of $250.
Eligibility
- All Contestants must be at least 10 and not older than 18 years of age on November 17, 2012.
- Former first-place winners of the CPF Competition are not eligible to compete.
- The pre-screening committee will choose finalists to compete based on initial CD/DVD recordings. All decisions of the Contestant Selection Jury and the Competition Jury will be final.
Application
In addition to the personal data furnished on the application form, each contestant must provide:
- One up-to-date biography in essay form of not more than 80 words.
- One letter of recommendation addressed to the CPF Pre-College Competition.
- Proof of date of birth (e.g. copy of driver's license, birth certificate or passport).
- One CD or DVD of at least two contrasting solo piano pieces of the applicant's choice. Single movements from a multi-movement work are acceptable. The CD/DVD must include at least 10 minutes and not more than 15 minutes of music.
Repertoire
- A contestant may perform any selections from the solo piano repertoire.
- Contestants must be prepared to perform the entire program from memory.
- Competition repertoire must contain at least two contrasting solo piano pieces of the applicant's choice, and should be a maximum of 15 minutes in duration. Students who exceed the 15 minute time limit will be stopped. Single movements from a multi-movement work are acceptable.
Deadline
All applications must be received no later than October 15, 2012; application materials are not returnable. Finalists will be announced and notified by e-mail by October 20, 2012.